By Lindsay Lucas-Bartlett

I have been asked multiple times about my experience at Hollywood Fringe, how to do it, what you need to do, and what it takes. So I figured I have done the podcast multiple times asking other people what they did and how they navigated fringe so now I am doing a step by step guide and what my thoughts are on fringe. So here you go, you’re welcome.

Want to do the Hollywood Fringe Festival and don’t know where to start? Feel overwhelmed just thinking about it all? Do you have a new play, established play or workshop that you want to get on its feet? Well let me guide you through the process with hopes that the process will be less daunting.

Venue Venue Venue

Hollywood Fringe is in the whole month of June starting with previews the first few days of June. My first piece of advice is to book your venue, then you can start thinking about the rest. If you know the theatre space that you have and its specifications, you can start your rehearsal process knowing how much or little space you have.

So first things first, what is your show? Is it a solo show? Big group production? Lots of props or just you in a theatre with only a chair? What do you need from your venue? Do you need projector, big lighting design, multiple levels, how many audience seats do you want, think of all the things you need and want. Then start your hunt.

The Hollywood Fringe website has everything you need to know about the venues it works with each year and how to contact them. If you go to the participant area on the site it will go over the venues and there specifics with you. Once you see some venues you like, start booking tours. The sooner the better. I usually go on January to look at venues and you’d be surprised that I am not the only one. The sooner you find the venue you want and book, the more likely you are to get the dates and times YOU WANT. That’s a big deal. There is nothing worse, in my opinion, then doing a show at midnight. That’s not for me. If you’re all for midnight shows, knock yourself out.

When you go to look at venues take a check list of the things you want and need and once you find the venue that ticks all your boxes be communicative with the theatre and get your contract in place.

You do not need to have registered your show yet with the Hollywood Fringe, you can wait to register your show until the very last day, May 1st usually.

Now that you have found your venue, if you are starting your show from scratch, get to work. If not, get rehearsing. If you’ve booked your venue in January that gives you ample amount of time to get your show audience ready.

You can approach your venue or other venues that are in LA, they don’t have to be participating in Fringe, to see what their rehearsal rates are if you need rehearsal space. But whatever you do, don’t leave rehearsing to the last minute either. Be on top of your game.

If you are doing a published piece of work, make sure you have the rights to the show. Getting rights is easy, just contact the playwright and / or publisher. Usually you will have a minimum then a maximum of time you can perform under that contract, so know exactly how many shows you will be doing before you get in contact with them. Once you have the rights you’re sailing.

Registration

Like I previously mentioned you don’t have to register your show until the deadline so sort your venue out first.

Create your show on the Fringe website. You’ll then do the application to the venue. Then you will register your show.

There are three tiers with registration so figure that out before you register. Usually you will do the first tier, the most expensive if you are doing multiple shows plus selling tickets. Look at all the tiers before you pay.

If you are coming from another country look at the International page and make sure you have the correct visas in place and that you are paying the correct tier. When it comes to International shows you cannot get ticket sales if you don’t have a visa however from what I have come to understand you can claim expenses from the theatre venue so in theory you could make your money back but not officially get “paid”. Double check this information with he venue and with Fringe before committing as information changes.

Budget

What is your budget? There are so many things that you can and will need to pay for during fringe and it does become a bit of a money pit so budget the fuck out of it and then have a “reserve” budget amount included in your budget. Likelihood is, you will go over.

Things to budget for:

- Registration

- Theatre

- Theatre Insurance

- Tech running your show

- Posters / postcards / advertising materials / buttons - make sure you have the Fringe logo on there and the show dates, times and theatre address. If your show is in a theatre that has multiple theatre, make sure it is clear which theatre you are in. Get your own show program made. CopyHub in Studio City is a GREAT place to get stuff printed quickly and without breaking the bank.

- Online adverts

- Program adverts

- Will you be streaming or recording your show? Add about $500 in for that if you are.

- Rehearsal space rental

- Any outside musical sources, i.e do you need a pianist on stage with you?

• Reviews and advertising on outside websites. There are websites such as NoHo Arts that will run your advert on their website plus write you a review, which also will be on their website.

Goals

Set yourself goals for fringe. What do you want from this experience? To network? Make money or break even? Win an award? Workshop your show? Get reviews from audience members or publications? Whatever your goal/s are set them and if you achieve them, wonderful and if you don’t…please don’t beat yourself up. This entire process is brutal, it can be a massive rollercoaster of emotions, good and bad and it is exhausting, if you have had a great fringe or not it is still exhausting.

Tickets

Now when it comes to tickets I saw a bunch of fun ideas this Fringe, postcards and social media blasts with discount codes. Everyone loves a discount code so get one going.

What else do we love with discount codes? Free shows! If you are doing a preview show, comp it. If you can fill the theatre, word of mouth will be a great marketing resource for you, plus it’s free.

You can do a show of pay what you can or a night where you donate the profits or 10% profits of your show to a charity fundraiser.

Whatever ways you can get bums on seats, do it. Fringe is hard and it’s a continuous hussle so figure out fun ways in order to get an audience.

Add all of this into you budget. If you know you’re going to do a comp night, add it in.

Go to Fringe events and Fringe Central and meet other Fringers, do comp swaps and big each other up. At the end of the day you are all in it together and this is meant to be a a fun and safe environment to put on your work so make the most of it if you can.

Do promoted or sponsored ads on social media platforms. If no ticket sales come from it you can still see how many people have seen your posters and show details. Exposure is key. You can do promoted posts with the theatre’s address and have a five or six mile radius for the promotion.

Awards

Before Fringe starts you’ll get an email about the awards. Go through them all and READ the application process in its entirety! Some will ask you to do google forms. And start the award process AS SOON AS YOU CAN! Do not wait. The award panelists get so many applications and there are close to what, 300 shows being performed?

Imagine getting over 300 applications. I have heard that some of the award judges will only go to shows of the first xx amount of applicants. So do not wait a week to apply, apply as soon as the list comes out. Be on top of it.

Community awards are awards you do not have to apply for but make sure you are in the right categories. If your show is a solo show but a musical, put it in the musical section. The way you do that is in your page set up, do it before the program has been printed.

Show time

Once it is showtime…have fun! That’s what it’s all about right? If you are workshopping your show that is a great way to get feedback and notes. Last year we workshopped Trust Me, I’m from Essex at Fringe and we did three shows and I didn’t advertise the show as much as I could have because it was a workshop. The feedback I got a lot of was, more songs please. A year later I did the show again with five shows and four new songs, so time for a re-brand and it became a solo musical.

If your audience can write reviews for you on the fringe website a great way of using those reviews is by either putting them on the poster or any pictures you have had taken during the production and blasting the fuck out of them on social media platforms.

Lastly

Do not be hard on yourself. Fringe is really overwhelming for everybody and like I said before, if you had a great run and sold out shows, the whole process can be draining. Go with it, take breaks, take the time out for yourself to refresh. If you didn’t achieve your goals don’t stress it, it is what it is. Producing and performing in your own show is giving you skills that you will use in the future and they are valuable skills indeed. So if you didn’t achieve your goals I guarantee you achieved something way more valuable and that is being the creator of your own destiny. So be proud of yourself, be very mother trucking proud.

Rebecca Ferdinando is a British actress, model and host as well as an advocate to helping young people from all backgrounds a chance to get into the performing world.

Rebecca trained at Sylvia Young Theatre School before heading to Middlesex University where she gained her BA (Hons) degree before headed to drama school.

Rebecca has had a fabulous run in the British indie film world and she is going from strength to strength. Rebecca’s first film, Shank lead her onto wonderful, scene stealing roles in films such as Bonded by Blood, Outside Bet and Get Lucky. Most recently Rebecca wrapped Nemisis and has a new film, Election Night that is currently in the festival circuit. 

You can follow Rebecca on Instagram @Rebeccaferdinando 

Throwing out that energy for Rebecca to be in Call the Midwife wearing a wig and me being on Grey’s Anatomy, wig or no wig. 

Meet Tehmina Sunny, British, Indian and American. Her charm, wit & curiosity makes her an actor’s actor, a director’s actor and a crew’s actor. She has portrayed memorable characters in Emmy award winning TV shows, Golden Globe nominated productions & Oscar winning movies. But really, Tehmina Sunny is the same little girl that once dreamed of one day acting. Not for the fame, but because as an actress she is a storyteller.

Born in London, her passion for the arts was developed at an early age. She received a scholarship for playing the violin, Viola and piano. With no previous training she was a finalist for the BBCs cross-country search for acting talent.

Sunny put her artistic dreams aside and attended the University of Leeds in England, where she studied Business Information Systems with an emphasis on Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science. This combined with marketing and business studies earned her a Bachelor of Science degree with honors. After graduating, she worked for Richard Branson’s Virgin corporation. But soon after a UK acting agent persuaded her to embark in the entertainment industry as an actress.

Tehmina’s career began in the Oscar winning movie ‘Children of Men’, working with award winning director Alfonso Cuaron & actors Michael Caine, Clive Owen & Julianne Moore. Continuing on to ‘Argo’ with Ben Affleck.

On the small screen, she has portrayed a retrospective of characters in Emmy award winning & Golden Globe nominated productions including, CBS’s Training Day with the late Bill Paxton, NCIS, CSI, Fox’s 24: Live Another Day & The Following with Kevin Bacon. Aaron Sorkins The Newsroom on HBO, ABC’s Mistresses & CW’s Sci-fi show Pandora. Sunny is currently recurring on NBC’s Primetime show, ‘Chicago Med’.

Go follow Tehmina on Instagram and Twitter @tehminasunny

Troy Titus-Adams is a British actress based in Los Angeles. Troy has appeared in soap operas EastEnders as Nina Harris and Family Affairs, as Kim Davies as well as several films and stage productions. She has also appeared in Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.

Finding her passion as a performer from an early age in Holland where Troy spent her early years, Troy grew up with a strong musical theatre background Troy was a dancer in Mexico for seven months and in Starlight Express in the West End. Then Troy decided to explore what it was like to live Stateside before returning back to the UK to appear in Eastenders and Family Affairs, before returning back to living Stateside once again.

Not only has Troy had a wonderfully creative journey but also a spiritual journey as well, which we discuss at length.

You can follow Troy on Instagram @troytitusbarrow

Lucy Drive is an actress and musician also known as 80’s alter ego Roxi Drive. Lucy can be seen in BBC programs such as Hustle and Doctors as well as feature films such as Outside Bet, directed by Sacha Bennett, performing alongside Bob Hoskins. 

Not only has Lucy had a lovely acting career but in 2014 Lucy wrote, produced and co-directed an 80's Spielberg inspired coming of age short film called Our Time which was accepted in to the Cannes Short Corner.

Lucy moved to Los Angeles and then spent some time in Atlanta figuring out the acting scene before headed back to Brighton where Roxi Drive, 80’s inspiring singer and performer was born. 

Not only has Lucy had success in acting and with her music she also has a podcast called Deadly Debbie’s Creepy Files: Ghost Stories and More, a podcast focusing on the paranormal. 

You can follow Lucy here: 

Instagram and Twitter @lucydrive @roxidrive (IG) @deadlydebbiepodcast (Twitter) @debbiefiles 

https://www.roxidrive.com

Sabra May is an actress, voiceover artist, writer, improviser, and standup comedian. She currently co-produces the all female standup show Comedy Stew in West Hollywood. She has also written and performed two one-woman shows. The most recent, titled The Creature, was performed while 8 months pregnant. Sabra has completed the improv and musical improv programs at Upright Citizen’s Brigade and is currently on the musical improv team The B-Side.

Sabra has also voiced thousands of commercials across all platforms as well as video games, technical and medical narrations, and animated works. The client list is so extensive, Nike, intel, Microsoft, Nintendo are just a few and voices a character on Cyberpunk.

Sabra has an extensive theatrical background and has worked with Anne Bogart and SITI Company and has studied at Warner Loughlin Studios. She is a fan of immersive theatre and is a co-founder of the Action/Adventure Theatre company in her hometown of Portland, Oregon

Listen to Sabra and I discuss the world of stand up comedy, creating shows that women will have a safe space to perform and not get sexually harassed or discriminated against, motherhood and our love for Grey’s Anatomy.

You can follow Sabra on Instagram and Twitter @sabramay

Jill Penfold is a British actress and On-Camera host. Jill was born and raised in Essex. Where she lived until leaving at Twenty to travel as a Beautician aboard cruise-ships. 

Jill returned to the U.K in 2004 where she attended Birmingham Theatre School for Two years for Theatre Acting. After graduating Jill landed her first job at The Crescent Theatre as ‘Angela’ in Mike Leigh’s 'Abigail's Party'.  Four years of theatre touring followed, including being a gender-fluid Macbeth for Three months.  A best actor award for Madre in ’The Daughters of Venice’ was a highlight.

In 2008 Jill was given a scholarship to The Lee Strasberg Film And TV institute to study The Stanslaviski acting method in Los Angeles. There she stayed for a year before signing to an agent and beginning her career. Acting, Hosting, stunt acting, commercials, fitness and voice acting are all  facets of the industry that Jill enjoys. 

You can follow Jill on Instagram and Twitter @jillpenfold

Website www.JillPenfold.com

Leaphy Khim is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, stunt woman, actress, fitness model and trainer. Leaphy was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Cambodian genocide survivors.

Having enlisted into the Marine Corps when 9/11 happened it was after Leaphy left and finished college did she decide to pursue the film industry with hopes of becoming a director before turning to stunts. 

After getting her Screen Actors Guild card Leaphy has not looked back. Working as lead actress on short film, Let it Go, Leaphy Won Best Actress at the G.I Film Festival in San Diego proving to herself that pursuing acting as well as stunts went hand in hand. 

Since then Leaphy has worked on stunts for television shows, Scorpion and SEAL Team and booking her first television show as an actress on The Rookie. 

You can follow Leaphy on Instagram and Twitter @leaphykhim 

Stacey Moseley started out as a child actress in New York, booking any teenagers dream job as a series regular on the television show Swans Crossing, which has a huge cult following. Listen to hear how Saved By The Bell squashed those teenage dreams. 

Stacey moved to Los Angeles and has continued pursuing her passion for thirty five years, remember this industry is a marathon not a sprint. Stacey has appeared in several television shows since moving to LA including, Lie to Me, Jane the Virgin, Grey’s Anatomy, Shameless, Fresh Off The Boat and Young Sheldon to name but a few. 

We also discuss having a life outside of acting and how important it is. We can sometimes get so focused (a little too focused) and forget to actually live a full life. 

As well as acting, Stacey created her own web series, Missed America based on her experiences as a beauty Queen Paget child and teen. 

You can follow Stacey on Twitter and Instagram @staceyRMoseley

Hailing from Newcastle Cat LaCohie moved to London and spent the next twelve years performing burlesque, acting, as well as touring Germany for four months before taking the leap to try out LA. 

Since moving to Los Angeles Cat has had some amazing success with her Burlesque performances and alter ego, Vixen DeVille and has performed multiple times of Masters of Illusion.  Not only is Cat an accomplished actress and burlesque performer in the LA scene, Cat is also a fantastic fire eater, glass walker and aerialist who wrote and performed in her solo show “Vixen DeVille Revealed” was awarded Winner of the Best International Show, Winner of the Soaring Solo Artist, Winner of the Encore Producers Award, and Nominated Best of Cabaret & Variety at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2018. The show went on to be awarded Winner Best Out Of Town Show at the Tucson Fringe Festival 2019, Winner Best One Person Performance at The Valley Theatre Awards 2019 and Winner Best Solo Performance at the Indiana Fringe Festival 2019.

In addition to performing for audiences, Vixen also teaches her craft both privately 1-on-1 and in supportive group workshop environments. Whether working with students in-person or worldwide online, she is a one-stop-shop for anyone interested in the world of Burlesque. Her classes range from “Introduction to Burlesque & Body Confidence” to full “Solo Act Development” as well supplementary classes covering “Costume Crafting” and a range of specialty performance skills including Fire Performance, Aerial and more.

You can follow Cat on Instagram and Twitter @catlacohie 

And Vixen DeVille on Instagram @vixendeville and Twitter @vixendeville_

You can also check out Vixen DeVille www.vixendeville.com

Meet Lindsay Perry, the wearer of all of the hats, actress, writer, producer, director, gymnast and content creator. Lindsay most recently finished shooting feature film Hide and Seek with director Joel David Moore and starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers that just got picked up at Berlin Film Festival. Lindsay has worked on all sides of the industry as well as helping start up production company Balcony 9 before Covid-19 shut the industry down.

Lindsay wrote and performed in Short film, Swing Night that has been viewed over 1,000,000 times on YouTube and had a successful run in the festival circuit. 

Lindsay spent many years at The Pit in New York City writing and performing sketch comedy as well as being a regular performer at The Upright Citizen Brigade in NYC.

Lindsay appeared in Red Dead Redemption II and Grand Theft Auto as a Motion Capture Performer and Voice Over Artist and can be seen on the  TV show The Affair. 

Keep up with Lindsay on Instagram @lindsayaperry 

Meet the man behind the page @supportbritish on Twitter, John Craggs. John trained at The Birmingham School of Speech and Drama and has been an actor for over thirty years performing in numerous plays, commercials, and most recently during lockdown rehearsed readings of Dracula and Winter’s Tale and the man of many quotes. “We are all responsible for each other” - Glady’s Irwin. John has so many words of wisdom and is truly wonderful in bringing the acting community together.

Listen to how John’s mother was a profound influence in John’s life and career and how simple things like taking a walk can clear your mind and hit a reset button. 

You can watch all of the rehearsed readings online here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpw8CGobk2n4Tap_w-G6u_A

And you can follow John’s wonderful acting community:

@supportbritish

And John’s personal account:

@johncraggsactor 

In this Bonus episode of Tea Time With Lindz, even though it is a short one it is jam packed full of story time goodness.

Listen to Erron Jay as he tells us all about the highs and lows of his creative journey so far.

Erron was born In Kansas City, Missouri and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre Performance from Missouri State. After four years and only one play later Erron auditioned and got accepted into DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. 

After spending six years in Chicago Erron made the move to Los Angeles, with less than $400 to his name. Listen to how Erron navigated his way in LA, booking pilots and commercials to sleeping in his car when rent was not an option. 

You can catch Erron on Lucifer, No Good Nick, and many more. 

Erron Jay is currently looking for a kidney donor and you can find out all the details here:

www.gofundme.com/f/kidney4erronjay

Go follow Erron on social media on Twitter @erronjay and on Instagram @erronjay

Hannah Whiteoak is a British Actress, Producer and Voice Over artist living in LA trained in Motion Capture, you can catch Hannah in Pride and Prejudice Cut, Military Wives, Accidentally in Love that comes out this Christmas and catch her voice in commercials such as Xbox and Video Games, Hand of Fate 2 and The Elder Scrolls Legends: The Fall of the Dark brotherhood.

This week you can listen to Hannah and I talk about the importance of not being a dick on set, what it’s like working as a gaffer whilst also pursuing acting, and it’s never too early to start on the Mezcal, it’s five’o’clock somewhere right?

Follow on Instagram @hannahblakewahiteoak2015 

Tamara Wilder is an actress performer who trained at The Royal School of Speech and Drama. Whilst pursuing acting Tamara has created an Award Winning Entertainment Company, Blackwatch Entertainment, www.blackwacthentertainment.co.uk. BWE devised and wrote the scripted drama elements for Channel 5's Celebrity Murder Mystery- which reached over 2.5 million people.

Blackwatch Entertainment has also created and hosted over 700 virtual shows for the UK & international markets as well as looking to develop a digital fully interactive product using AR/VR.

Listen to Tamara and I discuss the up’s and down’s of the acting pursuit since we left drama school. The casting pigeon holes and the wonderful reality of being an “older” actress, even though I feel like I’m still in my twenties.

Some os Tamara’s other credits include: Santander Commercial with Jessica Ennis and films for Channel 4 & ITV . Stage work includes roles for live immersive theatre shows for John Lewis, Microsoft, Hush Mayfair, Fox TV, HQ Theatres, Mercedes, Roche, Charlotte Tilbury & Leeds Castle.

Follow Tamara on Twitter @tamarawilder and on Instagram @tamarawilder-actor 

Follow Blackwatch Entertainment on Twitter and Instagram @blackwatchents

This week Lindsay Lucas-Bartlett interviews former acting coach and longtime friend, Benjamin Byron Davis about his career so far. From what inspired Ben to choose a career in the arts, finding out his casting type and using it to his advantage to what flavor La Croix he is currently drinking.

And yes, you did hear that currently, I did go and see Ant Man and the Wasp just to see Agent Burleigh.

You can catch Ben in Greg McLean’s, The Belko Experiment, Peyton’s Reed, Marvel’s Ant Man and the Wasp and you can play him in Rockstar Games, Red Dead Redemption I & II as Dutch van der Linde.

You can follow Ben on Twitter @Tooda and Instagram at @BigBenDavis